Ann Arbor theater to host Skarsgard thriller "The East"

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

ANN ARBOR -- For the fourth year in a row, the Sundance Institute has chosen the Michigan Theater as an official venue of the Sundance Film Festival USA program. This elite event will happen at only ten theaters across the country.

"We are very pleased to be screening 'The East' as part of the Sundance Film Festival USA," said Russ Collins, executive director of the Michigan Theater. "Trevor Groth, Sundance's Director of Programming, loves this film and is excited to premiere it in Ann Arbor, because the Michigan Theater always has the best-attended Sundance USA screenings."

As in previous years, key players in the film will also make an appearance at the event, including the aforementioned Groth, who leads a six person team that is responsible for curating Sundance's events and championing films such as "Hard Eight," "Pi," "Memento" and "Napoleon Dynamite," among others. The Michigan Theater will announce the other headliners at a later date.

Attendees of the premiere will also help celebrate the Michigan Theater's 85th anniversary and Collins's 30th anniversary as Executive Director with special pre-show activities. The Michigan Theater opened in January 1928 as a grand movies palace, which in the "Roaring 20s" was the grandest and most elaborate of the Michigan-based Butterfield theater chain. The theater was saved by a community-based non-profit organization in 1979 and Collins has managed the theater's restoration and institutional growth since 1983. During his tenure, Collins has developed the ongoing relationship with Sundance, has been knighted by the Republic of Italy for the Michigan Theater's promotion of Italian film culture, and has won the Outstanding Historic Theater in North America award from the League of Historic American Theatres.

To round out the Sundance experience, the Michigan Theater will screen Sundance Shorts, a collection of the best shorts from the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, on Friday, February 1, at 7:00 pm.

Reserved seats go on sale Wednesday, December 12, at 10:00 am. Prices are $15 for the film, $15 for the shorts, and $25 for the package. Tickets are available at ticketmaster.com and all Ticketmaster outlets, including Briarwood Mall and all Walmart stores. Charge by phone at (800) 745-3000.

About the Sundance Film Festival: A program of the non-profit Sundance Institute, the Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most ground-breaking films of the past two decades, including sex, lies, and videotape, Maria Full of Grace, The Cove, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, An Inconvenient Truth, Precious, Trouble the Water, and Napoleon Dynamite. Visit sundance.org/festival for more information.

About the Michigan Theater: Now celebrating its 85th year, the Michigan Theater is Ann Arbor's nonprofit historic center for fine film and performing arts. The theater is located in downtown Ann Arbor at 603 E. Liberty St.

Regular movie prices are $10 for the general public; $8 for students, seniors, U.S. veterans, and children younger than 12; $7.50 for Michigan Theater members; and $7 for weekday matinees before 6 p.m. Visit michtheater.org or call the 24-hour information line at 734-668-TIME for more info.